Iraq’s Anti-Israel Death Penalty Law Praised by UK Politician

“I look forward to the day that the British parliament follows Iraq’s fine example,” said British politician Chris Williamson.

By Pesach Benson, United With Israel

Iraq’s parliament recently passed a law that makes normalization of ties with Israel punishable by death. The legislation is seen as a rejection of the Abraham accords, which normalized Israel’s ties with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.

Visiting Israel is certainly a no-no. But the law’s wording makes it potentially illegal for Iraqis to have ties with Israel in the realm of business, culture, even social media.

Merely advocating for normalization also falls under this law.

This new law is out of step with Western values — the U.S. State Department has already said it is “deeply disturbed” by the legislation’s passage.

Unfortunately, one British politician, Chris Williamson, is not only cheerleading the Iraqi law, he’s even expressing hope Britain adopts a similar law.

“Members of Iraq’s parliament have passed legislation that prohibits the normalization of relations with the apartheid state of Israel. I look forward to the day that the British parliament follows Iraq’s fine example,” Williamson tweeted on Friday to his 97,000 followers.

Williamson, a former Labour parliamentarian from Derby North, was suspended from the party in 2019 after saying it was “too apologetic” on antisemitism.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Britain’s anti-discrimination watchdog, cited numerous incidents of party harassment and discrimination against its Jewish members in a 2020 report. In response, Williamson launched a crowd-funding campaign claiming that the EHRC had been “lobbied” by the Jewish Labour Movement, which he labeled a “pro-Israel outfit.”

Williamson is currently associated with the Resist Movement, whose website describes itself as “a grassroots movement which aims to empower communities and workers through democratic, practical and political means.”

Jews on Twitter jumped on Williamson’s tweet.

Mike Newman tweeted a black and white image of Jews arriving at Auschwitz, saying, “Chris Williamson lines up UK Jews to explain to them the difference between Antizionism and Antisemitism.”

And a woman going by the Twitter handle @DaniellaCranksh tweeted, “Chris, you literally come out in support of this legislation which promotes the death sentence. So when that was pointed out to you, you jump on the ‘Zionist troll’ bandwagon trying to excuse your own stupidity? Pathetic.”